The Takeaway: Rubby De La Rosa takes a different road to success this time

BOSTON — Rubby De La Rosa’s two starts at Fenway Park have looked cosmetically the same.

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By
Tim Britton
Posted Jun. 16, 2014 @ 10:12 pm

BOSTON — Rubby De La Rosa’s two starts at Fenway Park have looked cosmetically the same.

On May 31 against Tampa Bay, he finished seven shutout innings, allowing four baserunners (four hits, no walks) and striking out eight.

On Monday against Minnesota, he finished seven shutout innings, allowing four baserunners (one hit, three walks) and striking out three.

The means by which De La Rosa arrived at those similar ends, however, were very different. In that first start against the Rays, De La Rosa threw 47 fastballs and 46 changeups. The change was mesmerizing, to the point where he barely needed to show his fastball. He generated a dozen swing-and-misses on the changeup alone that night, and he was dominant. He was in hitter’s counts to only four batters all night.

Monday was not that. While De La Rosa cruised through his final 13 batters, he didn’t seem in quite the same level of control. Part of that was because he didn’t have the same command of his fastball, which he threw for strikes less than half of the time (33 of 67). And yet, De La Rosa threw that fastball a lot on Monday, at the urging of the Red Sox. He threw 29 changes compared to the 67 fastballs.

“The last couple outings, I didn’t throw my fastball a lot because I feel confident with my changeup, so I threw my changeup a lot,” De La Rosa said. “They told me to throw my fastball because I have a good fastball. Throw fastballs and then the changeup; they’re not prepared for that.”

That De La Rosa could shut the Twins out despite having such shoddy fastball command illustrates how good he can be when on. He just needs to show that fastball enough to make the changeup play up, which it did throughout the night. He generated weak ground ball after weak ground ball on the changeup, consistently getting Minnesota hitters out in front of it.

“I didn’t throw [my fastball] for many strikes, but I tried to attack the zone with it,” said De La Rosa. “That helped, because when I threw my offspeed it was behind their swings.”

“To go out and trust his fastball a little more, that set the tone,” manager John Farrell said. “More than anything, he should have gained some additional trust in the use of that pitch…. Part of his learning curve is happening in front of our eyes.”

Everyone knows De La Rosa has great stuff. He showed it that time out against the Rays. But any good pitcher will tell you that real quality comes out when you don’t have your best stuff. Can you pitch through a night when you can’t spot your fastball?

De La Rosa did that on Monday, and that’s the most encouraging aspect of his outing.

It doesn’t mean it’s all good. You’d still prefer he be the dominant starter he was against Tampa Bay, or that his fastball command didn’t flit in and out the way it has through four starts. Unlike Brandon Workman, De La Rosa isn’t really knocking the door down to remain in the rotation even when Felix Doubront and Clay Buchholz come back — “I don’t want to think about that,” he said when asked about the possible imminence of a return down I-95.

But if nothing else, the right-hander has shown he can pitch at this level, and he’s shown the maturation the Red Sox were so hopeful of seeing when they sent him down during spring training. While the depth of the offense remains an ongoing issue, the depth of the starting pitching has been reinforced time and again this past month.